Seasoned guitar players rarely practice proper posture when they’re playing, but in the beginning, when you’re first starting out, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of holding your guitar properly, sitting while you play, and finding a quit place where you can focus on your scheduled practice time. While you may toss all of this discipline out the window after a few weeks or months of practice, proper playing and practice techniques can be beneficial when you’re learning how to play a guitar.
Schedule a regular practice time and stick to it. If you have a guitar instructor this isn’t going to be a problem, but if you’re teaching yourself, a certain amount of discipline will be necessary to ensure you set a schedule and stick with it. Practice makes perfect isn’t a phrase somebody made up just because it sounds good. Practice really does make perfect, so practice, practice, practice. Pick a place where you won’t be disturbed so you can give your guitar your undivided attention.
Sit properly. It may look much cooler to stand with your guitar and head bang, but save that for the concert stage after you’ve learned how to play a guitar. When you’re starting out, it’s going to be a lot easier to learn while sitting properly (see the illustration) and able to concentrate on what you’re doing.
Use a consistent method and try to stay with it if it works. Whether you use a DVD or video course, online guitar lessons, or a teacher, stick with it if it’s working. A structured course that begins you with the basics and gradually introduces more advanced techniques is going to work better for you than a bunch of random concepts you aren’t going to put to use right away.
The best way to learn to play guitar is to put into practice the concepts you learn. Keep it simple at first, make sure you have a good grasp on basic chords and strumming technique, then find some of your favorite guitar TAB sheet music online and use the skills you learn by playing actual music. There really is no better way to learn how to play a guitar than by actually playing it.
